How much Ram do I need to run Aperture 2 on my MacBook Alu

[MichaelBarry]

I have a macbook Aluminium

• 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated Graphics (256MB VRAM)
• 2Gb of Ram

I currently have 2Gb of RAM (1Gb x2) and I was wondering how much ram I should have to run Aperture smoothly

Is is even possible to run Aperture smoothly on my MacBook?

 

[Dman77]

I have the same machine, I run it on 4gb of RAM which is fine at first, but now with just under 7000 images it's started to run pretty slowly.

Saving and updating a vault to an external drive and deleting those shots that aren't urgently required from the Aperture library saves a lot of space and memory though.

 

[pprior]

Of course it depends on what else you're running - you should strive to not run any other apps while running aperture.

I don't have a MB, but my Mac Pro came with 2gb ram when I first got it. When I went to 4GB speed jumped significantly and noticeably (without any benchmarking, just observational). When I went to 8GB I saw more speed on imports but overall it wasn't near as dramatic for 4.

So I think the short answer is 4Gb I think is the sweet spot. Of course that may change with snow leopard's efficiencies, but I would doubt it.

And "smoothly" is relative. If you're working with 21MP raw files that machine is probably going to struggle. If you've got 10MP jpgs, probably not so much.

 

[markrowland]

I have a MacBook (2GHz, 4GB RAM) and Aperture generally runs fairly well, with a few lags now and then, though that may be a product of a crappy gfx card. I'd say that a better processor would play just as crucial if not more crucial of a role when it comes to speeding things up (RAM will only help to a point)

 

[Edge100]

As others have stated, the jump from 2GB to 4GB is huge. The jump from 4GB to 8GB not so much.***

Go with 4GB. Aperture loves RAM.

*** - for typical Aperture/Lightroom use. If you're doing massive high-MP panos in Photoshop, you will benefit from as much RAM as you can put in your machine.

 

[NathanCH]

You can never have enough ram.

 

[AlexH]

You can never have enough ram.

True. I recommend a minimum of 2GB, 4GB + preferably.

 

[shady825]

I use Aperture daily and just last night I upgraded to 4GB..
WOW what a difference!!
It will run fine with 2GB but 4 makes a big difference..

Everything is dependent on how many pictures you have also....

 

[GoCubsGo]

I loaded up Aperture and took this screenshot 1 minute later. I was not importing, it was not "busy", and it's not overloaded with photos. Therefore, 2 GB is ok (ran that on my PB rev D) but 4GB is nearly necessary.

 

[wheezy]

2GB is good for Aperture OR Photoshop, if you're going to run them both then 4GB+ is the way to go.

I have 11 Apps open right now, Aperture has been open for awhile and is only using 335MB according to iStats Menu, and I've been editing in Photoshop on some files (about 250MB each) and Photoshop has jumped up to 1.8GB in usage.

I discovered, at least I think I did, that having Aperture manage your files in the library instead of referencing them made a huge difference on speed for me.

Keep in mind your 256MB for the GeForce is coming from the 2GB you have, so you're already down to 1.75GB.

 

[MichaelBarry]

Keep in mind your 256MB for the GeForce is coming from the 2GB you have, so you're already down to 1.75GB.

that slipped my mind. thanks for that. I think i'll max out my RAM. nothing I can do about the processor so I'll have to live with it.